Eat This, Not That…In Baby Land

Eat This, Not That…In Baby Land

I am having a bit of a struggle. It’s one that I find myself dealing with almost every day and it’s one that causes me a lot of stress. I am not a good eater. It’s by no means my parents fault, and it’s not something I am proud of. My favorite restaurant is Friendly’s, and I prefer anything fried over anything healthy (I know I am not the only one). The thing is that I really wanted it to be different for my son. I wanted him to eat better than me. I wanted to provide him with healthy options, and it seems that my desire to have this happen isn’t enough. I guess he truly is my son, because he will spit out broccoli and eat pizza. Who could blame him right? We seem to have meal time struggles every day.

One day breakfast will be a success, then the next nada. One day a turkey sandwich at lunch gets gobbled down, and the next day not one piece will touch his lips. Dinner? Forget about it. That seems to be a struggle almost every day. I do my best to provide a healthy dinner. I make special things for him only to have him turn his nose up at it. How frustrating is that!?

Dinner has become a bit of a court jester act by Captain Awesome and I. Here’s how it goes…I start dinner before The Captain gets home. He gets his veggies and main course…doesn’t eat a bite. I get frustrated, and when The Captain gets home he takes over. With a lot of coaxing dinner normally gets eaten. That is with a little help of “The Fresh Beat Band” playing on the laptop on the kitchen table. Ideal? No way! But some sustenance gets into his belly.

I have been stressing myself out alot about it, but to my relief I found myself reading “What To Expect The Second Year” and found that it is totally common in toddlers. The book said that we think toddlers need a lot more food than they actually do, and if we paid attention we’d see that over the course of a week they actually do get all the food they need. Think serving size in spoonfuls vs. bowlfuls. That made me feel much better about our situation.

New plan? Offer food through out the day and don’t stress. If he’s hungry he will eat. Offer him good choices and all will work out. No more laptop at dinner, and no more tricks to make him eat. I really don’t want to start that bad habit. Let’s hope my new plan works. Let’s hope my son doesn’t waste away to nothing and starve!

One Comment

Our little guy (who’s not so little-just turned five) is a horrible eater. There was a short period where he would actually trick us with chocolate milk. He would ask for some, then down it all and say he wasn’t hungry.

But in the last few weeks he’s actually gotten a lot better. He’s been a beast at some meals. It’s like he’s coming out of the toddler stage hungry and ready to grow.

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After the Alter is a blog about my "life after the alter" meaning after being married, and the changes that go with it. I am a mom to a beautiful boy and girl who are the stars of this blog, and a little Pomeranian named Tinkerbell. I LOVE being married to Captain Awesome, and here I share stories of my life as I learn how to be the best wife and mom I can be, and all my crazy thoughts along the way.